Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/2015-12-16/In focus



When Marco Leiter, a man from a little town in southwest Germany, bought his new photography drone after a visit to a model airplane fair with his family, he instantly knew he had found a very cool new hobby. The Leiters live in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate, a wine-growing region full of hills topped by medieval castles intertwined by rivers with ancient towns on their banks.

Marco, or Phantom3Pix, as would later be his pseudonym, wanted to photograph these sights from above with his drone. Step by step, he mastered his high-tech toy and made plans to document the famous monuments in his area: Ehrenbreitstein Fortress, Montabaur Palace, Marksburg Castle, and many more. Marco soon learned that things don't whizz so easily for drone photographers, however. Germany regulates the use of these unmanned aerial vehicles quite heavily, and laws differ from state to state.

Operating a drone requires a permit – sometimes
"I learned that you actually don't need a permission when you're flying a small drone like this in my state, but once you're using it to take pictures of things that you want to publish online, you sort of enter a grey area, and I didn't want that", he explains. Also, getting permission to let the drone fly from within the premises of a monument is a lot easier with an official document. When a professional photographer from his region threatened to report his first tryouts to the police, Marco decided to do things the proper way. He went and applied for an official permit from the competent authority – situated at the regional airport close to his home town.

A summer holiday with a lucky shot
When he went on a summer holiday to the North Sea with his family a few days later, of course Marco took his new drone with him. In the small town of Westerdeichstrich, he documented an old windmill from above. Just by accident, he stumbled across the lighthouse of Westerheversand and took another picture. Back at home, Marco came across the banner for the 2015 Wiki Loves Monuments photography competition. He decided to create an account and upload a handful of his best shots.

An "unusal perspective" convinces the jury
One of them, the lighthouse, won the national contest in Germany. The jury highlighted the "unusual perspective" of the image which allows the viewer to look at the famous lighthouse at "lens-level" with the lantern on top of the tower. The image was then entered into the global competition – and won. "First place, I can't believe it, that's overwhelming.", Marco says.

Rules and costs
As it turns out, photography drones are generally looked at with a certain suspicion – maybe because of the stories regarding their jet-powered military counterparts, maybe just because people don't like the idea of having a moving camera pointed at them from above. "My permit lays out all sorts of rules: I can't fly my drone over people, animals or roads and not above a height of 100 meters. All this can be difficult when you're trying to take a photo of a castle on a mountaintop standing on a river bank in a valley filled with little towns and a railroad track", Marco says.

In addition, Rhineland-Palatinate state law requires drone operators to notify the local authorities 48 hours before the ascent of their unmanned aerial vehicle. In addition to the drone, prices for which start at around €1000, the permit and required insurance cost an additional €200 per year. Marco has asked Wikimedia Germany to help cover some of the costs so he can continue to make more aerial photos for Wikimedia Commons.

From a legal perspective, things look different from above
With regulations regarding air traffic out of the way, there are other areas of the law that drone photographers have to mind. Copyright law prohibits photos of new buildings because in Germany, freedom of panorama only applies when the photographer is actually standing on a public road and holding the camera in their hand and not maneuvering it through the air with a little radio-controlled helicopter. Special permits are required near airports and in nature reserves.

Also, privacy can be a matter. From above, it can be easy yet illegal to take a peek at people's private spaces such as back yards or rooftops. Finally, drone photographers could even come up against contract and property law: For example, when you operate your drone within a private park where photography isn't allowed in general, let alone using flying equipment. Therefore, it is wise to get the landowner's consent before getting to work. "Once, the owner of a castle asked for a small fee and I paid by making a stack of postcards using my photos for the castle's gift shop. Others are just very happy when you share your photos with them", Marco remembers.

New possibilities and challenges for Commons photographers
With these issues out of the way, drone photography offers great possibilities for Commons photographers. Aerial views allow readers to better understand the location and setting of a monument or a place described in an article. And, you can add a whole new dimension with aerial video, to give readers the whole picture. But as always, preparation is everything. "Make sure you get a proper permit if you need one in your area.", Marco advises, and adds a piece of photographer's wisdom, "Always make sure the sun is behind your back!".

''The author is a German Wikipedian. A German-language interview with Marco also appeared on the Wikimedia Germany blog. A learning pattern on drone photography has been published on Meta.''